Shame and love are the main driving forces of our development; they are opposite to each other and equal in power, like minus and plus infinity.

But if you are ashamed of yourself and regret the past, then it is an impure activity, Klipa, because it means that you do not agree with the fact that there is none else besides the Creator.

There is none else besides the Creator not only means that the end result depends on Him, but that He planned everything that you would do from the beginning, how you would pass all these states, and later regret them. And now you are sorry about what happened instead of regretting that you think that you did all this and not the Creator. That is, you are not in adhesion.

If you want to correct something in the past, then you are not in adhesion with the Creator; you do not accept that He alone rules in the world. You only need to be grateful for the bad as well as the good. And if you manage this at least for a moment, then the next moment you will be even more sorry about the past.

We must finally scrutinize this property, and until we complete this scrutiny, we will not move to the next degree. A person constantly beats himself up, but all this is the consequence of the failure to understand that the plan, the action, and the results of the action, everything, comes from one source, and you should agree with the work of the Creator. You should feel the impressions of what He does to you so that in all these experiences you will remain adhered to Him above the sensations in your egoistic desire.[116641]From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/11/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

What changes when the upper level connects with the lower level? New bodies, spiritual Partzufim, that we actually give birth to appear. This birth is only possible by the Upper Light, of course, but it happens in response to our deficiency.

Every time we want to adhere to the upper, we force the lower level to adhere to the AHP of the upper and to give birth to a new form, a common Partzuf, for the upper and the lower levels. This Partzuf is called Neshama and we are actually those who give birth to it. The matter of creation exists, but we add our demand, our deficiency, to it.

The action is performed from above and the deficiency for the action comes from below, and as a result, a new entity is born that did not previously exist. There is only one thing in this new entity, the desire of the lower to adhere more strongly to the upper, each time a bit more and then another bit. This is called “many pennies add up to a big account.”

This renovation doesn’t stem from the spiritual ladder that descends from the top down and not from the ordinary Partzufim, but from our awakening, which each time leads to wholeness, which means to adhesion, to absorption, and to mutual incorporation.[116453]From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/08/13, Talmud Eser Sefirot

The Book of Zohar, Introduction, “Rejoicing on the Holidays and Not Giving to the Poor,” Article 175: The Creator’s role is to cheer the poor according to His ability. For the Creator appears on the holidays so as to look at His broken Kelim.

Someone who yearns for what is higher is called a “pauper,” someone who feels himself “poor in knowledge” and wants to reach the revelation of the Creator. “Holidays” are unique “times,” unique states, in each and every one in which one is found closer to the Creator. Just like when the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the earth, undergoing periodic changes. In other words, besides what depends upon a person, in the general “operating system,” cyclical changes take place that are sometimes discovered and we differentiate them, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

It happens this way in order to awaken additional alternative systems that influence us and hasten the times. And these “peripheral” systems pass through various processes, take on part of our work, and bring states to us, sometimes making the heart heavy and sometimes making the heart light.[116374]From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/26/13, The Book of Zohar

Without Klipa we cannot identify the Kedusha (sanctity) because seeing the advantage of the Light is through its contrast with darkness. If we want to draw a line between any two properties, we must see both, one characteristic and the other that is differing from the first. We need boundaries, limitations, definitions, differences, and only the system of impure forces (Klipot) can provide this to me, and more qualitatively each time.

It is an extraordinary ingenious system that works in the form inverse to that of sanctity, but in a way that brings a person to sanctity. And therefore it requires a double trick. It is like an adult in playing with a small child tries to show him all his shortcomings, but in an enticing way so that the child will not run away. He shows all the means that will help the child along the way in order to teach the child how to use them himself, to teach him how to attain these powers himself.

On every level, the Klipa brings a person to a final stage of development, (Behina Dalet), where he begins to have control over himself. And then he is ready to build sanctity above it. It is so cleverly arranged that it’s as if it is fooling itself, producing double opposites. Therefore Klipa is considered insidious and cunning, but all of its deceit is directed towards the goal of creation. The system is constructed this way from above.

The question is: “How can we identify the Klipa if it is so tricky?” We can identify it according to the intention because it shows me that my intention is still not to bestow, Lo Lishma.

The Klipa is anything other than the opportunity to contact and reach the Creator, as it is said: “Another god is sterile and bears no fruit.” Through the Klipa, I cannot connect with the Creator. And only if I am to give up everything for the sake of the Creator, even if only for a moment, and to bestow to Him in one direction without regard for anything in exchange, then the gates are opened and I pass from Klipa to Kedusha. This is the only thing that is lacking in the system of impure forces and is found in the system of sanctity: contact with the Creator with unidirectional bestowal, only from me to Him.[116288]From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/13/13, The Zohar

In the News (from Salon): “According to a new study, men experience a blow to their self-esteem when their female partners experience success, even when they aren’t in direct competition. Women’s success also negatively impacts how men view the future of the relationship, researchers found.

“‘There is an idea that women are allowed to bask in the reflected glory of her male partner and to be the ‘woman behind the successful man,’ but the reverse is not true for men,’ says study co-author Kate Ratliff of the University of Florida.

“Ratliff and University of Virginia researcher Shigehiro Oishi put study participants through a series of five experiments to gauge how a partner’s success impacted men’s and women’s implicit and explicit self-esteem. In cases when a woman outperformed her male partner in social or intellectual tasks, men registered a dip in their implicit self-esteem. Meaning, they didn’t report feeling insecure to researchers, but negative feelings and low self-esteem were nonetheless registered on word association and other tests used to gauge unspoken attitudes and feelings.

“Women did not register negative emotions when their partners succeeded. Interestingly, when their male partners performed well on a task, women felt more confident about the future prospects of their relationship. Men, however, felt worse about the future of their relationships when their partners were successful. ‘So thinking of themselves as unsuccessful might trigger men’s fear that their partner will ultimately leave them,’ Ratliff and Oishi wrote of their findings.

“The researchers hypothesized a zero-sum approach to success and failure may be what was fueling men’s insecurities and resentment at their partners’ success, explaining that men may be more likely to see their partners’ success as their own failure.”

My Comment: Inequality of perception of success is based on the relative positions of the levels of the degrees ZA and Malchut. Their mutual advancement depends on the requests from Malchut, which are provided by ZA. Inequality is given by nature, but it is completely leveled if both take part in jointly correcting themselves, which is impossible to do otherwise than together, each performing his or her natural function.

Inequality is given from above, but precisely this teamwork leads the male and female sides of creation to equality and adhesion. Conclusion: Completion, equality, and perfection can be achieved only as a result of correction.[116312]

Question: Why does the Creator need a “middleman,” Israel, between Him and His creation?

Answer: The material (matter) by itself is Malchut, a desire to receive, nothing more, which can only respond to pleasant and unpleasant effects in a straightforward, predetermined manner. It cannot bring any updates in nature.

If I build some kind of mechanical, electrical system that responds to my influence, it cannot be considered a “new creation.” After all, it’s based on our thoughts, sensations, intellect, and attitude. If it’s built correctly and if we are its creators and if it’s completely under our control, then it’s just a part of us and there is nothing new or different about it. We made it the way we wanted it to be.

This explains why still, vegetative, and animate nature, as well as those people who lead a purely material life cannot be called “creation,” since they are governed directly from above. When pricked, they scream “Ow!” and when patted, they enjoy, “Ah!” Except for “Ow!” and “Ah!” there is nothing more they can do—either suffer or enjoy. Their reaction to pain or delight is obvious and predictable. Where is the creation in this picture?

Creation is one in whom there is a part of the Creator, and because it is already there, there is a certain opposition,conflict, a gap, a delta between the properties of the Creator and creation. If we can work with these two parts correctly, then between them a zone of “freewill” emerges, a special place where we do not depend on the Creator nor do we hinge on the material He created; we are positioned at the borderline between them.

This neutral zone is called “the middle third of Tifferet.” It’s a point that is considered to be true creation. We still have to work to attain this state, but at least we already know where to look for it and how to tune to it. Somewhere in the middle between the Creator and creation (not true creation but a material creation) there is a state that embraces both opposites and at the same time is not dependent on either of them.

We cannot yet comprehend what it is, but eventually we reach this state. When working with the general public, we are working with the material creation. The Creator is the force with which we want to perform the action. By that, we transform ourselves into “creation.” This has never happened before in the history of humanity; this process did not begin until today. Only after we achieve it will we be able to call ourselves “people,” “sons of Adam,” “similar” (Domeh) to the Creator.[116084]From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/26/13

Question: I feel a complete detachment from TES (Talmud Eser Sefirot.) I can neither understand nor sense it. When I read it, I feel really frustrated. Is there a way to handle this?

Answer: And rightly so. After all, you see that everything written there is unclear to you; it doesn’t “stick” to you.

When we study any science that belongs to this world, we read slowly, try to understand, listen, “digest” the same page or a part of it many times, and then we eventually comprehend it. We can draw it on paper, create a model, or see it somewhere, or ask others about something we don’t understand yet.

Those who know the answers will show us how it works; they will also bring examples: This is an atom, it has electrons and protons. This is an accelerator, it speeds atoms up, hits them, and they break away from their nuclei and bounce from side to side… . We don’t see this picture but we can imagine “bouncing” balls.

When we study spirituality, we just don’t understand a thing. Everything that pertains to spirituality happens in a totally different realm, on a dissimilar plane, in another dimension, in opposite properties and qualities.

All we have is our brain (an empty computer) and an egocentric “program” that has filled our brain since we were born. We observe everything through this prism. We are not able to read texts that are so different, nor do we understand what these texts tell us. This is because we are run by different types of software.

As an example, let’s take a regular computer with a “Windows” operating system. We try playing a different software on this computer, let’s say “Linux.” However, it doesn’t have software to do that, so the computer has “no clue” of what is going on with it. This attempt of ours creates a total mess in the computer, nothing else.

The same applies to us. We are internally programmed. Connections between our memory and logic cells already have been established. We read with our eyes, but internally we feel what we are reading. So we should have a program inside us that is “compatible” with the incoming information, as in a computer. Quite simply, there is nothing else to it.

So, the information that we scan with our eyes contains a different volume and “sits” in a different pool of cells; it isn’t on the same grid with the informational data and their relationships that are in me. We read the information that is based on bestowal, on “getting out of oneself.” However, it is totally different information; it isn’t in us. We don’t have an inner machine to comprehend it.

There are people who still love to read, to understand; they literally “chewing” the granite of science. We have a student who is this way; by the way, he is a very good friend of ours, although he is a big “nerd.” I always use him as an example of how strongly one can really seek knowledge.

I too was one of them. I thought that through learning, I would conquer everything and to the extent that I understood the material I was studying with my brain, I would reveal and attain Kabbalah as any other science of this world. As a result, I hit a wall and felt a tremendous repulsion to TES.

It took me several years to understand the sixth and the seventh portions of TES, the World of Nekudim. Starting with the eighth part and from there on, I didn’t comprehend a thing! In other words, it didn’t live in me because I didn’t have these elements inside of me.

There are people who study TES and are very happy about it because they don’t have an internal demand to reach attainment, meaning they have no point in the heart. And I do have a point in the heart and it requires that I feel things that I study. I have to sense and form them internally; it’s not enough for me to imagine them as a basic model, I have to feel the entire world that they describe to me.

If this world is not present inside us, we won’t understand anything at all. Therefore, one who gets frustrated and angry about not understanding, is a really good soul. However, no one will understand this material until one “upgrades” oneself, re-structures one’s internal “program,” and in addition to the software that runs him or her, is added another programming language called “a spiritual system.”

Then, everything will be just fine. To the degree of our internal spiritual advancement, we will realize what’s written in this book, because it will tell us about ourselves, our sensations, and the innermost vivid feelings and states that we go through. There is more revelation, stronger sensation, deeper understanding, insight,and connection with the universe and with other people who read TES when we begin disclosing Kelim, vessels, tools, that emerge in us.

So, please continue to be annoyed, not at TES, but at yourself. After all, if you’re angry, it means that you have already come to a stage when you are able to re-arrange yourself in order to “accommodate” this material; it signifies that this structure will soon become yours. You will feel these sensations inside yourself. You will be able to tell that these particular feelings are Aba ve Ima, the other ones are ZON, others are small (Katnut) or great (Gadlut) states, and some are the Surrounding or Inner Light. It all exists in you! It’s not external but internal because the entire world is inside us. You will start seeing that everybody who is around you is in fact inside you and you will expand yourself to the entire universe.[116077]From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/25/13, Questions and Answers with Dr. Laitman

Even though this is against my nature, I still try to build this chain: to give satisfaction to another in order to give satisfaction to the Creator. Which is to say: “From love for the other to love for the Creator” and “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” In a manner like this, I attract the Light that Reforms to me, power arrives from the Creator and gradually helps me to do this, gradually teaching me.

But a large amount of activities are included here, one after the other, for I am not prepared to work together with all of my desires to receive with my ego. It’s very great and still not familiar to me. I don’t even know one percent of it, not even a billionth of a percent!

And in order to help me to give pleasure to another in order to give satisfaction to the Creator and to transform the guest so that he is like the host, all of my work is divided into small portions that I can indeed do. But these portions, meaning these levels, are absolutely separate from each other. Every time that I finish some small portion for the purpose of bestowing to the Creator, even in an insignificant form, without feeling and understanding it, in spite of it all, I transform my state; I pass to a new desire that is always greater than the previous one. And therefore working with it is different both in quality and in quantity.

That state through which I passed yesterday seems to me completely insignificant compared to the new and stronger desire. It’s as if I hadn’t done anything. I examine this with my new desires and they are greater than the old ones. Therefore it’s not necessary to grasp this directly in a form like this and to be in despair that it’s as if you are returning to that state all the time and that it might be even worse. This is how it must be because you get a greater and greater desire all the time.

The main thing is that you are actually taking what is found outside of you: still, vegetative, animate, and human, what is given to you, as well as the teacher, the group, and the books, in order to be equipped with the power of the Creator, with His help, and you try to work with them as a conduit that connects them. That is how you build a system through which and within which you will give pleasure to the Creator.[116012]From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/26/13

It is written that knowing the worlds, that is, the Creator, is known to the degree of devotion to Him in the heart of the person to get closer to Him, the characteristic of love and bestowal, and this yearning can stop at any moment. Therefore, the Creator cannot illuminate a person like this through the upper Light because if the state of the person changes, the Light will transform into an even greater darkness, into Klipa, into corrupted desires that can throw him many incarnations backward.

And only if there is complete certainty (the calculation is done by the system and is not by us), that a person will be given the power of bestowal and will use it in the right form, will he be given this.

Therefore, the Creator increases the excitement that is the beginning of the connection with Him. However, this is very unpleasant, for it is built upon rejection. You see, the Creator shows a person where he must make an effort in order to complete the picture of adherence with Him. It is as if they agitate the person and say to him, “These and the corrections you must make,” and the person feels acute pain, rejection, powerlessness, and disappointment in this place.

This happens according to “The Creator is your shadow.” If the person hears and understands this, he will not fall due to the frustration, resentment, and neglect that he seems to feel and he will not stop his work because of the suffering, for in this, he sees that the Creator yearns for him.

The Creator shows what else the person needs to do in order for the contact between them to be realized. The person sees this not as rejection, but as a hint that if he corrects this, the Creator will embrace him, and when the Creator allows a person to feel negative emotions, he sees this not as his own pain, even though he is in pain, but as the pain of the Creator—how much the Creator suffers because the person has not yet corrected himself and cannot adhere to Him. This is called the “sorrow of the Shechina.”

Everything can be solved with a very simple direction: towards unity. Unification is the unique and correct solution to all the problems from the first correction to the last correction, and if something is not okay, not appropriate, it is up to us to sit in a circle and discuss it immediately, to clarify it in a group of ten where each one adds to the words of the other. No one struggles with anyone. Each is nullified toward the other and only adds to his words.[114610]From the St. Petersburg Convention “Day Three” 7/14/13, Lesson 6